December 2013 Blogs

Beautiful Girl of the Week is a seriesof Beautiful Girls who are stand outs for what they contribute to the world through their beautiful actions! We feature the Beautiful Girl of the Week on the Rewrite Beautiful blog as an attempt to inspire other girls and women to use their own gifts and talents to impact their communities. Our hope is that bringing positive attention to women’s actions will inspire them to embrace their own creative calling!

Julia and I first met at ROCKHARBOR a few years ago. Back then I knew her as an incredibly sweet, down to earth college student with a passion for dance. When I saw her name on the list of applicants interested in interning with Rewrite Beautiful I was stoked none the less. Though I’m supposed to be a “teacher” of sorts during an internship, Julia taught (and retaught) me a lot this season. Some of my favorites were about dedication, humility and bravery. You’ll see more in our interview below:

Irvina: Why do you care about changing how girls see beauty in themselves?

Julia: There are too many incredible girls in the world who hate themselves because of the pressure to look a certain way. I want all girls to know that beauty is in their actions!

Irvina: Yeah-yuuuuuh! I think you’d make an amazing dance movement therapist and of course an excellent dancer! What do you do for fun when you’re not studying or at your internship?

Julia: Dance! I spend a lot of time taking class and choreographing. I also love surfing and doing anything at the beach!

Irvina: Name one cool thing you learned from your Rewrite Beautiful internship?

Julia: I learned the importance of speaking up. When I was able to help out at the Girltopia School Program, I saw how passionate the girls were when they had the chance to speak of their knowledge and experience in eating disorders. I think this is what society needs, passionate people who aren’t afraid to speak.

When I got the idea for Rewrite Beautiful the whole thing flashed before my eyes. The name, the mirror imaged t-shirts and the knowing that we would NEVER BASH THE MEDIA. Here’s why – it’s this person we all have to deal with called, “Me.” Since, I’m the big, bad gal who came up with this idea to Rewrite Beautiful, everything in our mission, vision and values has to come out of my brain- and my brain is not a big fan of media bashing or media literacy campaigns.

What are media literacy campaigns? They are campaigns to educate people on what the media does to distort our perception of the human body as well as the repercussions on our society. A few popular videos in this genre are:

At the heart, these campaigns and videos have good intentions. I myself have learned from them. However, I am not the average viewer. This is a subject I study and my knowledge surpasses a once-every-few-months-viewer. Here’s my beef, these videos are directed at the average viewer who doesn’t study this subject. The vids do a great job at addressing the problem but none of them spend time addressing a SOLUTION and that is harmful. So what ends up happening is we have millions of people watching and sharing these videos all over the web. The viewing of them creates:

Disdain for the media.

A false sense of knowledge about body image, eating disorders and marketing which are all incredibly complex subjects that need more than five minutes to dissect.

Fosters a misconception that eating disorders are solely caused by the media, which they are not. In fact there are three main causes for an eating disorder; genetics, stress and environment (environment can be the media, but not solely.)

But NO SOLUTION. NEWS FLASH I’m a solution girl. I didn’t start a non-profit because I was bored, I did it because I wanted to see CHANGE. I’ll share with you a little secret I have learned about change, you need to ASK for it. So this is me asking you to help us change. These campaigns just need a little Rewrite Beautiful ACTION to have a real impact. This is what I need you to do:

When you see a media literacy campaign video going viral like the ones above, feel free to watch them.

As you watch the video take into consideration that the subject matter of beauty, body image and marketing is complex. There is not one bad guy in this scenario. In actuality there are several factors that over time created this problem.

Ask yourself, “What is one small thing I can do to change this?”

If you feel compelled to share this video via techno-communication don’t just share the link but, state one thing you’re going to do about the problem. For example, if I was to post one of the above videos on my own Facebook page I would say,

I just watched What the Media Actually Does to Women and I’m inspired to make an effort to stop purchasing clothes from companies that portray human beings as objects. I know my purchasing power is a statement. Starting today, I’m going to try to purchase from companies that do marketing that inspires, empower people in their business structure and gives back, like ever/after clothing.

“This video, What the Media Actually Does to Women is shocking. I am so thankful there are magazines I can enjoy like Verily; a fashion magazine that features women of all sizes and have a no air-brushing policy. You should check them out!”

“This video of What the Media Actually Does to Women makes me think that the world is going to hell in a Louis Vuitton hand bag. However, it makes me feel better knowing Rewrite Beautiful is out there. This organization teaches girls that their beauty lies in their creativity, kindness and strength. Check out their school programs, their inspiring! Better yet, book one for your local school!

Your voice and your purchases make a HUGE difference in the way the world works. A little thought and effort is what results in CHANGE. I can’t wait to see what ya’ll post! I’ll be watching you ;)

Now here’s the kicker- I’ve been asked to be a panelist at Body Image Problems: Look Beyond the Mirror hosted by the International Association of Eating Disorder Professionals - OC. What do you know, there will be a screening of Killing Us Softly 4 right before the panel. Did they pick a black sheep to participate on this panel or what?! At least the panel will be diverse in opinions, which I always love! If you want to join us tomorrow, Saturday December 7th you can get a ticket HERE.